Photo-litho



Qinp tutt-s @anni ffigg,

'JOHN' L.. LAY,l or BUFiiaL-o, New voeu.

' Lettcrsldten Nth 70,341, dated October 29, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOGOMOTIVES.

To J./lLL WHOM 1r MAY ooN'cEnN:

Bc itdiriown that I, JOHN L. LAY, of Buifalo, in the county of Erie, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locomotive Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My invention consists in the employment on locomotive'engines of Vcompound cylinders in place bf the present highvpressure cylinders, viz, of a small cylinder, working steam at high pressure, and exhausting itinto a large cylinder where it acts expansivcly, the cylinders being arranged in line, so that both cylinders simul. taneously work pistons arranged on one rod. i

As locomotive engines are non-condensing, and required to work steam at a high pressure, varying from ninety to one hundred and thirty pounds per 'square inch, much of the effective power is lost, as the steam is fre. quently exhausted from the cylinder under .a considerable pressure, and this, acting as back pressure on the piston, reduces by so much the available drivingforce. This exhaust is necessarily through the smoke-stack, in order to produce suiicient increase of combustion in the furnace to generatethe enormous amount of steam required by this wasteful process. And it is the objectpf my invention to economize by the use of a smaller quantity of steam at high pressurein the first cylinder, and adding its expansive power in the second to the work performed 4 in the first, exhaust it at a pressure ordinarily but little above that of the atmosphere, thereby utilizing more of the power, and by obviating the necessity of such intense heatfin the furnace, and maintaining by the low, pressure exhaust a steady and uniform combustion, edecting a great savinginfuel.

v The drawing represents a -locomotive engine of my improved construction in side elevation, A being the boiler, B the first or high-pressure cylinder, taking steam direct from the boiler,'C the secondary cylinder, into 'which the steam is led from B by the exhaust pipe D, and' after being worked again, is-iinally exhausted into the smoke-stack through the pipe E. The steam in both cylinders acts on pistons connected with a continuous rod, F, extending through both heads of cylinder C and the proximate head of B. A chamber is preferably arranged between the two cylinders, to afford convenience of access to the stuiing-boxesgg in their heads- Any style of valves may he used upon these cylinders, but I prefer to employ oscillating valves, as shown at lt h, which may be connected together to open and close the ports of both engines-simultaneously, The combination of double cylinders is of course duplicated on the opposite side of the boiler. The first cylinder B is much reduced from the size ordinarily employed, and I prefer to make it of a size that will contain only about 'half the usual quantity of steam, and the second cylinder C of about four times the capacity of the first, by which the amount of steam used is reduced by about one-half, and the aggregate working power obtained from the area of the two pistons when worked in this manner is equal or nearly so, to results obtained by the single cylinder engines in common use. This saving in the amount of steam obviates the necessity of frequent stoppages for` fuel and water, enabling double the distance to be accomplished with the same supply. i

The combustion of the fuel is more perfect, steady, und 'completcunder the low pressure of the exhaust, which may be made through largeopcnings of the pipes instead ofthe contracted nozzles, rendering the draught .more steady and uniform, and the consumption of fuel more economical, and carrying fewer sparks oil' through the smoke-stack.

Other arrangements of the high and low-pressure cylinders may be employed, as, for instance, placing the smaller conccntrically within the greater, and accomplish as good, or nearly as good a result. But changes in thel relative position of the parts, while they may produce more advantages of construction, do not vary from the principle of my improvement, which consists essentially -in the employment'on locomotive engines of two cylinders, sol connected that one receives its steam directly from the boiler, the other takes it as itv exhausts from the first, utilizing still further its expansive force, the power thus obtained from both cylinders being united in its application.

Locomotive engines constructed on this principle are simple and compact, and those of the present mode may be easily altered to this style by the removal of the cylinders and the substitution of thc compound ones therefor. p

' What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is`

A locomotive engi-ne, constructed with high and low-pressure cylinders, the pistons of the high-pressureC cylinders being upon the same rod with those otl the low-pressure, and the axis of cach in line with the other, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto" signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' JQHNL. LAY.

Witnesses JAY HYATT, .ALBERT Ihrem. 

